Huge Gas Leak in Kendall Square Leads to Evacuation

The roof of a police patrol car at night, with the blue and red lights flashing.

A “major” gas leak on Binney Street in Kendall Square led to a large-scale evacuation of 5,000 people from 11 buildings in the Cambridge neighborhood.

The Cambridge Fire Department first reported the leak at about 8 a.m. and promptly closed streets and emptied buildings of people. A HazMat team and Eversource both responded to the scene of a “natural gas line leak,” the department wrote on Twitter.

Foot and car traffic was being stopped and a large perimeter formed around the source of the leak, which Eversource reported came after “a contractor dug into one of our gas lines.” The area was deemed “secure” just before 10 a.m., Eversource says, and officials spent the morning clearing and re-opening streets in the busy area one-by-one. No one was injured.

By 11:30 a.m., four buildings were cleared for re-entry, but the fire department said it would take two or more hours “to fully evaluate” the others.

The gas flow was reportedly stopped just after 9:30, but authorities are maintaining an evacuation and restricting access to the area around the source of the leak.

Eversource reported that the leak came after and just before 10 a.m. described the scene as “secure.”

Several buildings evacuated over gas leak off Binney St in #Cambridge. @CambridgeMAFire says gas now shut off, but evac continues @cbsboston pic.twitter.com/anph4R8i53

— Nick Giovanni (@NickGNews) July 28, 2017